Experimental / Contemporary

Tip!  *2022 stock* Some of the best recordings from Sydney's vibrant exploratory/spontaneous music scene ever released. Teletopa was “one of the earliest recorded examples of improvisation in Australia“. The trio was formed in Sidney in 1970 by Peter Evans, David Ahern and Roger Frampton, with various guests for each performance. Using conventional instruments like flute, saxophone, piano and percussion, Teletopa explored extended technique, unusual ways of playing, dissonances and silences, in …

*In process of stocking* Sofa Music continues to release the work of the extraordinary Norwegian composer Jan Martin Smørdal. Recently he was awarded the prestigious Arne Nordheim Composers Prize for his creative work. Kraftbalanse is a a composition for piano, alternating current and strings, written by Smørdal in collaboration with artist Øystein Wyller Odden. The piece is based on Wyller Oddens prior investigations on the sound of the electrical grid and was part of Oslobiennalen First Editio…

Luis Vicente, one of the most demanding trumpet players from Lisbon with the companion of the excellent pianist Seppe Gebruers and magnificent drummer Onno Govaert. Three young faces in an improvised world in their second trio recording. Unedited improvisations in the order as played, are composed by an interaction between the musicians, instruments, a nameless room, audience, microphones and you.

*Now available on vinyl! In process of stocking* "... Rade is arrivals and departures in sheltered coves, faces marked by sea salt and dried by the sun. It's waiting, caulking whenever needed, small repairs on deck, quick encounters, transistor radios. And then again, it's badly folded, coffee-stained nautical charts, imaginary routes in a Mediterranean Sea sailed from cove to cove, finding protection from storms in harbors, bays and inlets..." Rade is an unexpected arrival, like a beam of sunli…

*In process of stocking. 300 copies imited edition* Le perroquet Vert Vert de Nevers is a project by Angélique Buisson based on a poem by Jean-Baptiste Gresset, published in 1734. Presented as an opera, Vert Vert tells the story of a parrot taken in by a convent in Nevers. The parrot is entrusted to a boatman on the Loire to be delivered to nuns in Nantes. During the journey, Vert Vert learns the coarse vocabulary of the boatmen. When he arrives at his destination, the parrot swears like a sailo…

*2022 Stock.* Strahlen is an arrangement of Hoch-Zeiten's choir part for tuned percussion (manipulated through signal processing). In a live performance presented here, a percussionist (vibraphone) performs to a tape containing the other 9 complementary layers. These effervescent layers are organized as slowly changing, static harmonies - but with very active inner vibrations. This is a very aurally-appealing piece (from a more conservative viewpoint, perhaps), but its shimmering surface belies …

** Limited 2xLP Reissue of 'Metal Aether' & 'Resonant Field' in a beautiful gatefold jacket ** It is with tremendous pleasure that Nna Tapes announce ‘Resonant Field’, the brand new full-length album from New York-based sound artist and composer Lea Bertucci. Following up her critically acclaimed 2018 NNA full-length ‘Metal Aether’, Lea continues her devotion to the exploration of physical spaces by way of sound, channeled through her alto saxophone. Where her previous work investigated a variet…

Tip! An homage to the wildlife and mountain people of Benedicte Maurseth’s home area in Hardanger . The acclaimed and innovative visionary musician Benedicte Maurseth is coming forth with the wonderful all-consuming album Hárr. The sound of her magic Hardanger fiddle is woven seamlessly together with that of birds and the other musicians’ musical impressions. Always moving forward with a steely calm disposition, the record draws you into a world where one feels to be one with nature, wandering o…

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* The fifth CD in Tzadik’s initiative to make available the music of Teiji Ito presents his undisputed masterpiece Watermill. Created in 1971 for the controversial ballet by Jerome Robbins and named for the town on Long Island where Robbins had a peaceful country home, Teiji draws upon Chinese, Tibetan, African, Native American and Japanese ceremonies in creating what many consider his most profound compositional achievement. Based on the ideas of cycles—years…

*Limited edition of 100 handnumbered items* The first chapter of the "Raum“-trilogy by Dominik Grenzler aka An Moku and Stefan Schmidt. Finely crafted ambient / soundscapes using bass, cello, electronics and field recordings. As for many musicians, if there was anything positive about the lockdown in the spring of 2020, it was having more time to create music, to experiment and to maybe even start a completely new project with someone you may never have worked with before.
 When Dominik Grenzler…

*50 copies limited edition* Astral Spirits presents Unfamiliar Ceilings. Lina Tullgren: violinAlec Toku Whiting: koto, bass kotoTed Reichman: synthesizer, pedals (track 3) Engineered and mixed by Ted Reichman at Subtext Sound SystemMastered by Jack Callahan

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock* "There is a particular approach to improvisation which can seem slightly strange when you first encounter it, although it's been around in free improv at least since the days of the AACM, and so probably since free improv existed at all. This approach finds a commonality with field recordings of "exotic" musics rather than with the studio, and seeks, one way or another, to embrace that commonality in a non-contradictory way. Rohstoff represent one way of doin…

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Eddie Prévost recorded at Gateway Studio, Kingston, England on 16th of July, 2001. The album includes four tracks performed by Eddie Prévost - Percussion. "Alone in the studio, it is just me trying to breathe life into the materials I have chosen at hand. I am looking, hoping, that something unexpected will crop up. The gongs, chimes, bells, skins, strings and resonating boxes are a rich environment. You never know for sure what you will dig up. I …

First recordings of ten guitar pieces commissioned by Marco Cappelli from New York Downtown composers including Marc Ribot, Ikue Mori, Elliott Sharp and Otomo Yoshihide, played on an amplified classical guitar with sympathetic strings and MIDI control.

** CD housed in a 4-panel digipak. Comes with 12-page booklet ** Tone Glow Records is proud to present a special archival recording of Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 7 from Cornelius Cardew's The Great Learning. Conducted and formed by American composer Dean Rosenthal, the Montréal Scratch Orchestra featured 14 or so like-minded experimental music enthusiasts who performed the pieces at Redpath Hall on the McGill University campus in 1996. This release arrives on Cardew's 85th birthday and follows Ro…

From Mantua and Bayreuth to warehouses and wilderness, opera composers have often created dramas for particular kinds of spaces. Now add planetariums to the list. That hemispherical stage of scientific wonderment is the perfect venue for James Dashow’s monumental opera, Archimedes. After witnessing some epic laser and electronic music shows that took place in science museum theaters, Dashow – a distinguished electronic music pioneer – decided this venue would be perfect for bringing the Ancient …

Limited LP edition. In their new composition, Swagger, Oslo-based vocal duo Propan augment their customary sound palate with the aid of an eight-strong ensemble of strings, winds, percussion, voices, and electronics - an ensemble by the name Propanions. Combining pre-scored and improvised content, Swagger moves between the soft sound of tuning forks, odd beats, curious text, playful melodies and textural noise, resulting in an eccentric piece of definite character - an eclectic manifestation of …

This foursome is resolute in its acceptance of communal responsibility and creation. Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura sings and speaks in wordless flurries matching Taylor Ho Bynum’s brassy exhortations on cornet. Cellist Tomeka Reid and guitarist Joe Morris worry and pluck their respective strings, applying speed and torque in the loosing of spidery cascades of crinkled and crenelated tones. Pitch and timbre differentials are a big part of the interplay with instruments juxtaposed in bursts of activity.

Alexandra Grimal’s new record is an exploration of her inner improvised language in resonance with the very special acoustic of the castle of Chambord. Refuge was recorded in the double revolution staircase in the castle of Chambord in September 2020.

Reading Group is thrilled to introduce the debut LP from a new improvising group of three singular artists: Fred Moten (voice), Brandon López (double bass), and Gerald Cleaver (drums). López and Cleaver have been improvising together as a duo for a number of years, over which they’ve developed a secret, unspoken language of organically growing repetitive figures in a wide range of sonic palettes. López and Cleaver have long been recognized as some of the most vital voices in contemporary experim…

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Active since the mid-’60s, Alvin Curran is one of America’s most courageous and outrageous musical mavericks. A true forefather to the Downtown scene, his music embraces the dialectics of composition/improvisation, tonality/atonality, minimalism/maximalism, electronic/acoustic and more. Alvin’s use of the Shofar in experimental music making goes as far back as 1988, and this long awaited release features several compositions for Shofar and electronics, rangi…

*In process of stocking. 200 copies limited release* Deprived of sanity, Paul Régimbeau aka Mondkopf found new territories of expression with »Spring Stories«, a collection of post-rapture moods full of glorious chaos, ready to absorb and re-ignite all that is worn. As a phoenix raising from the ashes, »Spring Stories« captures the earth in full bloom. Darkness & Insanity looses it´s grips as the roots and fresh leaves creates a slow dance towards the sun. Similarly sine-wave drones move around …

A new trio from three master improvisers in the great sax / bass / drums tradition. This suite of compact pieces sees the players move between pure jazz skill and areas where extended techniques on all three instruments take the music into more textural and abstract areas. Paul Hession has played percussion with a wide range of improvising  musicians from around the world including Derek Bailey, Peter Brotzmann and Marshall Allen. Bassist Michael Bardon featured in the Nat Birchall Quartet and S…

Eclectic Maybe Band is the creation of Guy Segers, a player / composer / producer first prominent as bassist with legendary band Univers Zero, and subsequently active in many live and studio projects. “Again Alors?” is the third release by EMB which brings together detailed studio work with the creativity of real time improvisation. Using different groupings from within a large ensemble cast, which includes many well-known names, Guy has created an album where half the tracks are drawn from live…

South Korean Pianist Eunhye Jeong believes that, "after you travel far away from home, you get to know yourself more fully." Her new album, End of Time, is an existential exploration of that self-discovery, imbued with the spirit of the moon bear that lives in the Taebaek Mountains, a presence she was told about growing up. Throughout the album's three extended tracks, "Embark,"  "The Latitudinal Bands," and "The Elemental Life," she interfaces with a celestial, linear elegance, veering from a s…

** A special repress for RSD 2021 on Splatter vinyl (Clear and Black). SA Recordings release a LP and sample library from the acclaimed New York composer, performer and sound designer Lea Bertucci. A work of three interlinked incarnations, Acoustic Shadows began as an event, which then became an album and has inspired a sample library for other musicians. ** SA Recordings present a new LP from the acclaimed New York composer, performer and sound designer Lea Bertucci. A work of three interlinked…

*2022 Stock.* This CD contains the complete and only recording of Expo (1969-70) for 3 soloists with shortwave radio (and small instruments). Vocalists Natascha Nikeprelevic and Michael Vetter (from Pole on The Stockhausen Edition no. 103) are joined on this disc by F.X. Randomiz (Felix Hoefler) on computer and voice. The booklet includes essays by all three performers on their experiences with these open-form "plus-minus" works. - Stockhausenspace.blogspot.com

*In process of stocking.* A collection of organ work by Valdemar Kragelund. Orgelmusik released as a double cassette on the label Forlaget Kornmod, a collective label based in Odense and Copenhagen introducing New Danish heartfelt sounds. Minimalist hypnotic layers flowing away from the melodies they originate. Immersive compositions which will make you concentrate on the present.

Tip! *In process of stocking.* Throat is an examination of using site-specific and unusual acoustic environments as a catalyst for compositional expression as well as a tool to transform and transcend the timbral and aesthetic qualities associated with the recorder as an instrument. The 5 pieces on the record are written for, and recorded in, the following spaces: 1) Brønshøj Vandtårn: the massive cathedral-like water tower with approximately 15 seconds of reverb is shrouded in modal harmony and…

*In process of stocking.* Vinden bærer fuglenes drømme is a contemporary classical ambient work by Jakob Folke Ivarsson. Released as a cassette on the label Forlaget Kornmod, a collective label based in Odense and Copenhagen introducing New Danish heartfelt sounds.

*2022 Stock.* Paradies (Paradies, 21st Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Flute and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 22-24. These layers also include an additional, intermittent soprano vocal element (Kathinka Pasveer), which cues each of the 24 sections. This CD features the flute of Kathinka Pasveer, rec. 2009. As a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloi…

*2022 Stock.* Urantia (19th Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Soprano and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 16-18. This CD features the soprano vocal of Kathinka Pasveer, rec. 2008. As a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloist part for rehearsal.- Stockhausenspace.blogspot.com

*2022 Stock.* Jerusem (18th Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Tenor and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 13-15. This CD features the tenor vocal of Hubert Mayer. As a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloist part for rehearsal. - Stockhausenspace.blogspot.com

*2022 Stock.* Nebadon (17th Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Horn and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 10-12. These layers also include an additional, intermittent soprano vocal element (Kathinka Pasveer), which cues each of the 24 sections. This CD features the horn of Christine Chapman. As a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloist part for rehearsal. …

*2022 Stock.*  Uversa (16th Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Basset-horn and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 7-9. These layers also include an additional, intermittent soprano vocal element (Kathinka Pasveer), which cues each of the 24 sections. This CD features the basset-horn of Michele Marelli. As a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloist part for r…

*2022 Stock.* Orvonton (15th Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Baritone and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 4-6. This CD features the baritone vocal of Jonathan de la Paz Zaens. As a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloist part for rehearsal.- Stockhausenspace.blogspot.com

*2022 Stock.* Havona (14th Hour from Klang, 2007) is for Bass and Electronic Music. The electronic music element is derived from 3 extracted layers from Cosmic Pulses (The Stockhausen Edition no. 91), specifically Layers 1-3. This CD features the bass vocal of Nicholas Isherwood and as a bonus, the electronic music is also presented without the soloist part for rehearsal. - Stockhausenspace.blogspot.com

*2022 Stock.* Himmels-Tür (Heaven’s Door, 4th Hour from Klang) for a "percussionist and a little girl" (2005) is essentially performed on a hand-made door, with panels constructed from different types of wood in order to obtain a broad range of timbral colors. The piece consists primarily of 15  moods, followed by a final theatrical event involving cymbals and sirens (the little girl element is not aural). This piece could be considered a kind of microtonal, neo-marimba piece performed on found …

*2022 Stock.* Himmelfahrt (Ascension, 1st Hour from Klang, for synthesizer, soprano and tenor (and some percussion) (2004/05): This work primarily features the polyphonic/polytimbral synthesizer of Antonio Pérez Abellán, with added sung text by Hubert Mayer (tenor) and Barbara Zanichelli (soprano). Abellán did the synthesizer programming and also provides the intermittently-occurring percussion parts (bamboo chimes, metal bowl, gong percussion). As a bonus, the 48 timbres employed (blended synth…

No Performance is Li Song and Zhu Wenbo. This duo started in Beijing, 2015. They wrote and played compositions focus on acoustic instruments, environment sound, computer algorithm and random sequence. In 2018, Li Song moved to London. In 2020, Zhu Wenbo suggested a recording plan: to write some composition pieces for each other and then perform solo or with local friends. They used one month on writing, exchanged on a same day, then another two months on recording. Finally they got seven pieces,…